22 Kurdish separatists killed in Turkey

RIA Novosti Ankara, July 15 (RIA Novosti) Turkish troops have killed 22 Kurdish separatists in the past four days in the country’s southeastern province of Sirnak, which borders Iraq, a Turkish military spokesman said Tuesday. The spokesman said the military operation, which involved ground troops and air force, was launched last Friday in response to reports of planned militant attacks.

The offensive ended Monday with the killing of 22 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, the spokesman said.

In February, the Turkish army launched a large-scale cross border operation in northern Iraq, killing some 240 PKK militants.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the US and many other countries, has been fighting for an autonomous ethnic Kurd state in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years.